There is a post on the Greatest page, spreading harmful misinformation , with 53 recs.

[ShazzieB]

93. I think I see what the problem is now.

If I understand correctly, you are saying that you believe it's fine to misattribute quotes from a source you are citing (in this case a court filing), as long as the quotes in question sound like something the person you're attributing them to is likely to have said at some point. That is an.... interesting stance to take.

I don't agree with that stance at all, because it flies in the face of every rule I ever learned about citing sources as a college English major, a graduate student working on my master's degree in Library and Information Studies, or an editorial assistant on an academic publishing project.

The academic world does NOT look kindly on anyone who misattributes a quote in a source they're citing. Neither does the world of journalism, and I'm quite sure the legal world has the strictest standards of all. I get that there's nothing stopping anyone from playing fast and lose with those standards on an internet message board, but doing so doesn't serve ANYONE well, least of all the person doing it, whose credibility will almost certainly be adversely affected thereby.

That said, I can see there's no way I can ever convince you that this stuff matters. If I had half as many people telling me I was wrong about something as there are telling you that you're wrong about this, I know that I would be mortified and would be carefully rethinking my stance. If you're impervious to having multiple people say to you, "You're wrong, and here's why," then there's no reason why you would listen to one more. I will therefore take this as your last word on this, and here's mine: I believe to the core of my being that you are wrng about this, but I recognize that I can't change your mind.